A new name, a brighter future for the Danforth Art Museum

Nancy Olesin @WickedLocalArts

Sunday

Dec 10, 2017 at 5:00 AMDec 10, 2017 at 8:49 PM

FRAMINGHAM - Not to worry, MetroWest. The Hopi Indian Katsina dolls you learned about on a third-grade field trip to the Danforth Art Museum are safely tucked away and should be back on view at the museum by 2019.

Also safe and sound are all the museum's Boston Expressionists and Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Dr. Nathaniel Coffin. "Village Funeral at Brittany," the museum's much-loved painting of French peasant life, is on loan to the Worcester Art Museum right now, but the bevy of bonneted women painted by Charles Sprague Pearce will return to Framingham, too.

After a tumultuous year that saw its downtown museum shuttered and its collection put in storage, at its 42nd and final annual meeting Tuesday evening the Board of Trustees of the Danforth Art MuseumSchool voted to join forces with Framingham State University to ensure the future of the museum, its mission and the retention of its collection of more than 3,000 pieces of artwork.

After the failure of the building's heating system in May 2016, eviction notices were handed to the museum and other tenants in the Danforth's former longtime home in the town-owned Danforth Building at 123 Union Ave. Although the museum had previously purchased the Jonathan Maynard building on the Centre Common from the town for $1.5 million, Danforth officials hadn't planned on moving there for another five years.

It was a logistical and financial nightmare. Faced with needing to move out by September, the Danforth put its collection in storage and hastily renovated part of the Maynard building so the staff could at least move their offices there and art classes could be held..

Now, FSU has pledged to spend $4.5 million toward the integration and renovation the Maynard building, including the second floor which by 2019 will hold art galleries for the newly named "Danforth Art Center at Framingham State University." The first floor will house studios for FSU's sculpture and ceramics classes, while the third floor will continue to be home to the museum school.

"We are all really excited that this is really happening," said Framingham State President F. Javier Cevallos, noting FSU supported the establishment of the Danforth in 1975.

"Losing the museum was such a sad concept. How could we live in a community that doesn't have an art museum?" Cevallos said. This plan, he added, "is good for the community, the university and it is the right thing to do."

In voting to approve the agreement with FSU and the sale the Maynard building at 14 Vernon St. to the State College Building Authority of behalf of the university, the Danforth has taken a big step toward stabilizing the museum's finances and its art collection.

Framingham will receive approximately $645,000 to pay off Danforth's mortgage on the Maynard building, a former town elementary school, plus an additional $350,000 for signing away the town's right of refusal on the property. Selectmen on Tuesday authorized the town to discharge the Danforth's outstanding mortgage on the building.

"With all due respect to Beyoncé, we made one hell of a lemonade," said Debra Petke, executive director of the Danforth, in praising the trustees, the staff, volunteers and community for working to craft the plan with the university.

Richard Perse, co-chairman of the Danforth trustees, said both the original founding of the Danforth and the new plan with FSU "embodied the idea that the town deserved a museum to preserve and display art." And the Danforth's mission of "working, learning, teaching" is a good fit for FSU, which will be the first public university in the state with its own art museum.

When the museum was forced to vacate the downtown building, Petke said, her primary mission was to protect and preserve the museum's art collection, which includes works by Boston Expressionists Hyman Bloom, Karl Zerbe, David Aronson and Jack Levine, and Framingham sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller.

While some other ailing New England museums have moved to sell parts of their collections to raise money, the Danforth has refrained from doing so. "I'm grateful I had a board with ethical standards," Petke said.

Although the majority of the Danforth's collection is now being stored in the Maynard Building, it cannot yet be displayed until the second floor is renovated into gallery space. A silver lining of the move, Petke said, is that the staff has carefully checked every piece of artwork.

"We had to touch every object we owned. Physically, the collection is in the best shape its ever been," Petke said.

Curator Jessica Roscio said the Danforth has continued to receive new gifts of art from several collectors, including prominent philanthropists Ann and Graham Gund. The public has continued to have opportunities to see parts of the museum's collection in off-site exhibitions: at the Griffin Museum in Winchester, Endicott College in Beverly and North Hill senior community in Needham. A few pieces of art are displayed on the third floor where art studio classes are held.

Kristina Wilson, collections manager, talked about three competitive grants the Danforth was awarded that paid for creating a workroom, rehousing works on paper (60 percent of the collection is on paper) and fashioning high-density archival storage for the artwork so it could be properly and safely stored in the Maynard building.

Noelle Fournier, art school administrator, outlined educational programs the museum school has continued despite the move, as well as plans for the future.

"Parents want really high quality art instruction for their children," Fournier said. The agreement with the university she noted, will advance opportunities for lifelong learning as the museum will become part of the continuing education program at FSU.

Trustees Gary Christelis, a contracts lawyer, and Colleen Rolph (who called in via cellphone) outlined a plan that calls for the board to amend its bylaws and revise its nonprofit charter to change its name to "Danforth Arts Alliance." The Alliance would work in advisory, fundraising and community-building roles to support the Danforth Arts Center at FSU.

By law, the Danforth art collection, Christelis explained, cannot be owned by the university itself, but will be owned by the FSU Foundation, which provides private funding and support to the university. The Danforth Alliance would have a member on the FSU Foundation board, and would advise the foundation and director on accessioning and de-accessioning artworks, fundraising, events and the hiring for senior positions.

Mimi Macksoud, co-chairwoman of the Danforth Trustees with Perse, recognized the efforts of a number of volunteers, including several Danforth founders who were still on the board: Betsy Swartz, Judy Riegelhaupt, and Marcia and Paul Rosenberg. Swartz's husband Mike, also a founding member, continues to work hard for the museum, Macksoud said. Support of state and town leaders was also key to coming to an agreement with the university and the town.

"The Danforth and Framingham State have always had a strong relationship, " said Brian Bishop, chairman of FSU's Art & Music Department and a former Danforth Trustee. Currently, the university offers a Museum Studies minor, but the new relationship with the Danforth may allow FSU to offer it as a major, he added.

An audit of the museum's finances must still be completed and presented to the trustees, Petke said, and because the Danforth is a nonprofit organization, the agreement must still be approved by state Attorney General Maura Healey's office and the state Supreme Judicial Court. She said expects all to be in place by mid-January.

Update: This article was updated to correct the name and address of the building that formerly housed the Danforth Museum of Art for many years. The museum used to be located in the town-owned Danforth Building at 123 Union Ave.

Site Services

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Mass. Political News - Covering campaign 2014 in Massachusetts ~ 254 Second Ave., Needham, Massachusetts 02494 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service